The Wardman Wire

This time next week we will finally know who is going to be London Mayor. As the campaign trail draws to a climactic conclusion, what can take out of this election and who will be victorious?

Ever since Boris Johnson was confirmed as the Tory candidate, this election has had a certain buzz around it. Love him or loathe him no single political figure in this country is such a massive draw as Johnson and nor can anyone bring an entire crowd to smile quite like Bojo. Up against him was a man who can split a crowd quite like no other, Ken Livingstone. The differences in styles don’t stop there either. While one is heavy on substance, the other is a master of speaking; one is a champion of the underdog, the other is a champion of the mainstream. One thing that does unite them is their colossal personalities: the perfect blend to a brilliant political campaign and election.

Wrong.

Promises, promises…

An election that promised so much, has somehow delivered so little. I made no secret going in to this battle that however much I loved Boris Johnson as a personality, but what London needs is a real grafting politician like Ken. I have to admit now, however, that I thought Ken would win hands down once the ballyhoo had died down and we started to look at the policies. Yet the polls have been suggesting otherwise and I am not so sure at all.

The trouble with Ken

OK – so most of polls are close. Yet they all put Boris in the lead and have done for some time. All the signs point to a Boris win. If Ken does go on to lose this election, he only has himself to blame. He has run a miserably bad campaign from the start and is only just now playing back in to his strengths. He has become obsessed with Boris, holding him high esteem it appears at time – as though he is jealous of him. He has tried to paint him as a racist, then as a buffoon. He has banged on about the environment when the electorate care more about crime and transport. But worst of all, Ken has looked tired and even at times, a beaten man.

The brilliance of Boris

Boris on the other hand has hit this campaign like the proverbially bull in a china shop. Incredibly loud and vigorous, occasionally smashing a plate or two. He has hit the electorates’ buttons: fight crime, improve transport, scrap bendy buses, and do away with the western extension of the congestion charge. He has shrugged off the buffoon and racist allegations with the disdain they deserved. It is little wonder that he is the bookies favourite.

Whoa! Hang on a second…

But wait a moment. Before you all rush out and put a tick next to Boris’s name, just think for a moment. Yes he has been saying the right things, but when you scratch the surface, this guy is making it up as he goes along. He has pledged a return of the routemaster bus… yet it hasn’t even been designed yet and never will be – no manufacturer will design a new one without vast sums of money and assurances it won’t be them who are sued when people fall off the back of them. The there is the running costs – running in the hundreds of millions. If Boris brings back the routemaster I will eat my hat.

There are the bendy buses – yes they are not great for London’s narrow streets – but they have a large capacity and we have them now anyway. Why waste even more taxpayers’ money in getting rid of them? Even more to the point, in all seriousness: would you pick a Britain’s most powerful directly elected official on the type of buses he likes and dislike?!

We have his calls to review the smoking ban. He has no power in this area at all. Nor does he have them for his barmy suggestion to relocate Heathrow in the Thames estuary. This will cost billions, upon billions upon billions even if he could do it.

He blames Ken for the collapse of the PPP – but it was Ken who opposed it in the first place. He blames Ken for tube strikes and then promises he will agree a no strike agreement with the RMT. Poppycock. He cannot and will not do that. Sounds good, means nothing. In fact, I predict that we will have a whole lot more strikes under Boris than we ever would under Ken.

The list goes on. I really do like Boris, but I fear that in just a couple of years, if he does become Mayor, that his reputation will be in tatters. Right now it still seems like a bit of fun. However, I predict large numbers of Boris voters will regret the day they ever put a tick next to his name when things start to get serious again.

A protest vote is not always a wise vote

Those who are fed up with Ken: I have sympathy for your position. But is it wise to use your protest vote against him on Boris? It will hardly solve your problems and in my opinion may well make them very much worse.

So yes, I am less enthusiastic about a third Mayoral term for Ken – but he still has my vote… just. I suspect even if he does scrape through this one, he won’t be Mayor in May 2012 – just months before his beloved Olympics is due to start. Oh what irony that would be.

That other fella

I suppose I should have a word for Brain Paddick. The man who has been given an equal billing with Ken and Boris and yet managed to impact the polls not a jot. He is a side show and looks weak to me. He chips in at the debates like the class swot sucking up to the teacher while the naughty boys get stuck in. In fact, forget what I say, some genius has come up with the perfect caricatures of the main candidates far better than any words I can say. The casting in this is perfect!…

(Link below if you haev a problem).

Boris, Ken and Brian